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Car companies, starting with Volvo last summer, have laid out plans to electrify entire lineups of vehicles. But the fine print makes it clear that the coming decade and beyond will focus not just on massive battery packs powering electric motors, but also on adding a little extra juice to the venerable internal combustion engine.
Increasingly, that juice will arrive in the form of new electrical systems built to a 48-volt standard, instead of the 12-volt systems that have dominated since the 1950s. Simpler than Prius-type drivetrains and less expensive than Tesla-scale battery power, the new electrical architecture both satisfies the demands of cars made more power hungry by their gadget load and enables the use of lower-cost hybrid drive systems.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/business/electric-cars-48-volts.html
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @09:00AM (1 child)
How to lithium batteries handle the kind of abuse that car batteries need to withstand?
- Cranking the starter, hearing the RPMs drop because the battery is close to empty, and just as the RPMs are dropping too low, the engine springs to life.
- Being outside of the winter, slowly losing charge, until there isn't enough power to even blink the alarm diode, before someone finally gets around to find a 300 foot extension cord (not everyone can have their apartment next to the parking lot) and put a charger on it.
I know phone lithium batteries tend to die at just the thought of that kind of abuse. They really don't like to go below 40% charge, especially not for a long time.
And no, putting electronic restrictions in that prevent one from starting the car only means that people will be unable to get to work, which will be the number one thing to stop your idea if anyone tries it.
(Score: 2) by toddestan on Tuesday February 27 2018, @03:20AM
I got 13 years out of my last car's battery. And that is in a northern climate too. Battery still worked when I replaced it, though it was getting kind of obvious that the end was approaching. Given my experience with lithium ion batteries, I'd be surprised if one would last half as long.
Yes, I know Tesla expects their batteries to last longer, but they've also engineered their batteries packs with heating/cooling and normally don't let them go the extremes on the charge/discharge range. The battery in my car sits unprotected in the engine compartment is is basically exposed to the elements.